THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, April 7, 1995 TAG: 9504070502
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TOM SHEAN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 72 lines
A Virginia Beach lawyer and former real estate developer has sought bankruptcy court protection from creditors, listing liabilities of $27.5 million and assets of $5,271.
In a Chapter 11 petition filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Benjamin J. Levy included several liabilities tied to New Boone Farm, a proposed 1,000-acre real estate project in Chesapeake that failed three years ago.
Chapter 11 allows a business - or an individual with significant liabilities - time to restructure debts, under court supervision.
However, Levy's petition included an entry that said: ``Debtor estimates that there will be no funds available for distribution to unsecured creditors.''
Of the $27.5 million in claims listed, only $2.2 million are secured. The remaining $25.29 million of claims are unsecured.
Levy, who was active in real estate investments and developments in the region for two decades, declined Thursday to comment on the filing.
Several of the liabilities listed in the March 31 bankruptcy petition involve personal guarantees for real estate-related loans, including some for the New Boone Farm project.
In a 1990 newspaper interview, Levy predicted that it would take 17 years to complete the sprawling residential, commercial and industrial complex that was supposed to straddle I-664.
Levy's largest liability, according to the bankruptcy petition, is an unsecured claim of $6 million by Investors Savings Bank, a Richmond thrift that failed in late 1991 and was liquidated by the Resolution Trust Corporation in mid-1992.
Another unsecured claim for $6 million involves an entity named June 11 L.L.C., in care of Portsmouth lawyer Herbert Bangel.
Kramer/Levy Associates, a partnership in which Levy had been a part-owner, has an unsecured claim of $5.25 million.
Among the 78 creditors listed are several of the region's banks and thrifts.
Richmond-based Central Fidelity Bank has an unsecured claim of $3.5 million, while Bank of the Commonwealth in Norfolk has a secured claim of $1.54 million stemming from a 1990 loan to Cemetery Investments Inc. Bank of the Commonwealth also has an unsecured claim for $785,000.
Life Savings Bank in Norfolk has an unsecured claim of $785,000, and Crestar Bank, based in Richmond, has unsecured claims totaling $767,000.
Other area banks with unsecured claims include Jefferson National Bank, Bank of Tidewater, Commerce Bank, Signet Bank and Ameribanc Savings Bank, a thrift recently acquired by First Union National Bank.
In his filing, the 57-year-old Levy said he receives monthly income of $3,185 from salary and that he received $50,000 of income in 1994 from consulting fees.
The U.S. Trustees Office has scheduled a meeting of Levy and his creditors for May 3 at 1:30 p.m. in the Federal Building in Norfolk.
KEYWORDS: BANKRUPTCY by CNB